Welsh Journals

RADNORSHIRE INNS. By Rev. D. STEDMAN DAVIES, M.A. CUSTOM, fashions and our staple food have changed in the course of many centuries, and we often forget the origin of these changes. The necessities of one generation are discarded by the next, because of new discoveries or the abuse of something that was good. Buildings or the site on which the buildings stood remain to tell part of the story of the past. A journey through the villages of Radnorshire often reveals the close connection of the Church, the Manor and the Inn. Though the Church may trace its origin to the 6th Century and the Manor to the Norman period, the Inn is not probably earlier than the 16th Century. When the Inn stands near the Churchgate, as at Aberedw, it strongly suggests that it was the successor of the Church house, where the Churchwardens brewed beer and baked bread for the village feast and other local events. It is important that we should carry our thoughts back to the days when the customs were necessary, and see that our forefathers had the same troubles and worries in raising funds for parochial work as we do in the 20th Century. Mr. J. Charles Cox in his book on Churchwardens' Accounts," in the Antiquary's series, published by Methuen, describes their origin thus The Mediaeval Church prohibited labour on festal days and required the people of all classes to attend the Church in the morning. Hence the Church busied itself to find entertain- ment for the assembled people in the afternoon, and thus the Holy Day became identified in the Holiday. Every kind of popular amusement contributed towards the general Church and Parochial funds. The Church Ale was, by the end of the fifteenth Century, the Church Wardens most universal resort for eliciting the bounty of the parish. The Ale was held in the Church house, a building close to the Church." Mr. J. Charles Cox examined hundreds of such accounts in England and found that many such houses were provided throughout the